This American Life 336: Who Can You Save?
Act one focuses on the hypothetical scenario that there's a group of five people standing on a train track, and you're on a train coming toward them. You can save the whole group by pulling a lever and switching to another track, but the catch is that you'll kill another person who's standing on that other track. Do you pull the lever? According to a Harvard scientist, who posed this question to hundreds of thousands of people on the Internet, nine out of 10 people say yes, they would pull the lever. But then, the questions get harder—and the answers much more confusing. It turns out that different parts of our brains make different moral decisions. Act two is about the, moment when the U.S. government sent out a call for volunteers—regular, non-military people—to go to Iraq and help rebuild the country, Randy Frescoln signed up. He believed in the cause of the war and in the promise of its mission. He had experience setting up agriculture projects overseas, so was sent to the Sunni Triangle to try to reconstruct the broken economy there. But three months into his yearlong assignment, he comes to a horrible realization: the people he's trying to help hate him. In Act three, Brady Udall tells the story of the time he helped a stranger get his car out of a ditch. In exchange, the man promises to help him any time, for any reason—legal or not. Brady carries the man's card in his wallet; he's reassured that he has such a powerful guy in his corner. Many years later, Brady finally looks him up.

Questions to Consider:

1. How do these individual stories tie into larger social movements?
2. Can you find examples of anomie in these stories? If so, describe them.
3. Does it appear that long term collective action will be successful in these cases?

This American Life 372: The Inauguration Show
The election of Barack Obama was evidence of significant social change in the United States. On the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration, reporters were sent out all over the country to talk to people about how they're feeling about this new president.  Do they believe things will change?  Do they think there'll be changes in their own lives?  From dozens of hours of interviews, at a Marine Corps base and a button factory, at a New Orleans bar and a Florida town that used to be a stronghold for the Ku Klux Klan, we hear opinions about what's going to happen in America after the ceremony on January 20th, 2009.

Questions to Consider:

1. Many people were shocked that an African-American could be elected president in the United States. Did anomie play a role?
2. Can the election of Barack Obama be considered a social movement? If so, what kind?
3. Did technology and the erosion of privacy play a significant part in the election?

Owner of Asian Market in Columbia, Missouri Sees Future in New Immigrants

This segment profiles Chong’s Oriental Market, a small store owned and operated by a Korean immigrant. It is located in downtown Columbia, Missouri, home to a large and diverse ethnic population, many from the continent of Africa. The store is reinventing itself to serve those from Cogo, Indonesia, Ghana...

Questions to Consider:

1. How does this story highlight the differences between first and second generation immigrants?
2. How is this story connected to the issue of globalization?
3. Do you find it surprising that a store started by Korean immigrants is serving an African community?
4. What role do cultural norms play in the interactions between the store owners and their customers?

Fixing Your Online Reputation: There’s an Industry For That
Changes in the ways we interact and share information can present problems for managing our identities. This segment considers companies that have stepped in to help people manage their online reputations and control the personal information about them that is available online.

Questions to Consider:

1. Why do recent college graduates need to sanitize their online reputations?
2. In the future, do you think stories like Pete’s will become more or less common? Explain your reasoning.
3. Have you considered how your online reputation will affect your potential job prospects?

Phyllis Schlafly Still Championing The Anti-Feminist Fight
Michel Martin talks with conservative political activist Phyllis Schlafly, whose grassroots efforts are credited with helping to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment.

Questions to Consider:

1. Why would Martin be surprised that someone with Schlafly’s “background” would not embrace the feminist movement and would in fact oppose it?
2. How does Schlafly describe her political career and political involvement?
3. Does Schlafly believe that women are oppressed?
4. What term would sociologists use to describe the social movement that is opposed to the feminist movement/feminism?